Drifters
by Noah The Digital Dragon
Summary: First fanfic, w00t! Feedback is appreciated. Oneshot, Style slash. Kyle has been acting strange, and Stan is wondering what's going on. Stancentric. Might be OOC, please tell me if so, I have no confidence in my writing.


**Drifters**

Disclaimer: I don't own South Park. Just in case anyone somehow did not realize that.

It wasn't that he'd thought they'd always stay young. That would have been stupid. He just thought that they would always stay close. That was naive.

The four of them always used to hang out together. Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and him. It wasn't a perfect friendship by any means; between Cartman being a complete bigot, Kyle's hot temper, and Kenny dying all the time, they were hardly a normal unit. But it just _was, _and in retrospect he supposed he had taken it for granted.

And now, backpack heavy with high school application forms, Stan Marsh would give anything for his life to go back to the way it had been in fourth grade. He wasn't sure when things had changed, but they had and he didn't like it. Cartman and him mostly avoided each other now, and Kenny always seemed to be with Carman so Stan didn't see him much either. And Kyle… well, he was just… distant.

Apparently the distance was just something that came with being "cool." It was ironic, because Kyle had always been the smart type, and everyone would have assumed he'd fall into the geek category or stayed in the… well, whatever category the four of them had been in before. Fuck, who needed labels anyway? A word or two just didn't do enough to cover how someone was perceived socially. But the point was, Kyle was different now. The bond between him and Stan, which had once been so strong was now… actually, Stan wasn't sure _what _it was now.

Kyle was a good looking guy, a bit short but slim and well proportioned so it wasn't that noticeable. He still wore hats a lot, but his hair had gotten less Jew-fro-ish and often a few curls would slip out to frame his face. It looked nice. He was popular with the girls, and his I-don't-give-a-fuck-what-you-think attitude had made him into sort of a celebrity within the ninth grade.

He was slipping farther and farther away from Stan.

And he was standing right there. That wasn't exactly unusual, as this was the bus stop and they rode the same bus to school every weekday, but for some reason Stan's heart skipped a beat upon seeing him. He walked over to his friend and tried to start a conversation. "Dude," he offered as means of greeting.

Kyle looked up, and as their eyes met Stan could have sworn he actually felt electricity run through the air between them. "Hey."

"So, how are things?" _Holy shit, did that actually sound as stupid as I think it did? _

"Okay, I guess. Why?" Kyle spoke in an odd, disaffected monotone. Stan had been warned that he often let his emotions get the best of him, but this was just too much. This wasn't the Kyle Broflovski he knew, had grown up with. This was some weird stranger who he hadn't heard speak more then a few words at a time. And Stan wanted his friend back.

"Man, you haven't been acting like yourself. Shit, I'm worried about you! Did something happen?" _Well, that certainly was... blunt. _

Kyle actually grinned at that, and it looked rather creepy. Unnatural. "Do you really want to know?"

Stan felt his blood run cold, yet continued talking. "Of course I do, dude! You're my best friend, if something's happening in your life I want to help you!"

Kyle suddenly moved, placing a hand on the concrete wall just above Stan's shoulder, so that he had the other boy cornered. Stan was scared, and he wasn't sure if it was of the wild glint in Kyle's eye or just of the acute closeness itself. He wasn't sure why, but he felt the blood rising in his cheeks. "Get this straight. There is _nothing_ you can do to help," said Kyle harshly. Leaving Stan in shocked silence, he abruptly began walking away, his pacing brisk.

_Good, _Kyle told himself. _Now that I've made a complete asshole of myself, hopefully he'll just drop it. _But he didn't get any satisfaction from the thought.

He was knocked out of his thoughts and onto the ground as someone tackled him from behind. "What the fuck?" he exclaimed, crashing face first into the snow. He stared dumbfounded at the little white crystals just in front of his nose for a moment before shifting himself up into a sitting position and staring his assailant straight in the face.

Stan stared back at him. "Dude… I'm sorry, that was stupid," said Stan awkwardly.

"Damn right it was! What's your problem?" That's when Kyle saw the tears in Stan's eyes. _Stan's your best friend. How could you do this to him? How could you treat him like this? You totally deserved that tackle, Kyle. _Stan opened his mouth, no doubt to apologize again, but Kyle stopped him. "No dude, I'm… I'm sorry, okay? I… I've been acting ridiculous. It's just… I'm not sure how I can... There's a bunch of shit going on, and… yeah," he finished lamely.

"You can tell me, dude."

"I know that, Stan. It's just… it's a long story."

Both boys sat in the snow and watched wordlessly as the school bus drove away down the street. "We've got time," said Stan.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. As always. I guess I should start from the beginning, then." He looked for affirmation from Stan, who nodded. "A while ago, Cartman and I got into a fight. It was really bad, the cops actually came and took us both into juvie. Just for like an hour, it was more a show of power than anything official. But they called our parents, and… well, you know my mom. She actually threatened to send me to a yeshiva."

"Um, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"What's a yeshiva?"

Kyle laughed bitterly. "A Jewish school thing. As in Jewish to the extreme."

Stan said slowly, "But… I don't think we have one in South Park…" he cut off abruptly as realization dawned on him. "You mean… you'd be leaving the town?"

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while, watching the cars go by. It was quiet in the morning here, like they could actually hear South Park wake up with every small sound that penetrated the silence. The rumble of cars, someone moving around in their house. It was pleasant, thought Stan. Just him and his guy.

Holy crap, that thought just sounded really, really gay.

Kyle started talking again. "At first I didn't think she was serious. But lately… I really have no idea."

Silence again settled between them, this time broken by Stan. "But… would it really be that bad? I mean, you were always sort of destined to leave here. You – you're smart, and you'd be able to get a good job, see the world. You'd actually be one of the few people in this place to actually make something of your life. "Kyle suddenly looked away. "I… probably sound like your mom, don't I?"

"No," said Kyle quietly, still not facing him. He didn't want Stan to see the tears welling up in his eyes. "This is probably pathetic of me. But it was never this town I was afraid of leaving. This white trash, redneck town… it's home to me for now, I guess. But it doesn't really mean that much to me. I've never really been afraid of leaving it."

"Then... what..?"

"Isn't it obvious?" inquired Kyle. He smiled at Stan.

Stan was well aware that he was blushing fiercely, so he blocked his face and pretended to examine his palms. He shook his head, then, realizing Kyle couldn't see this he said, "Um, no."

"Dude, it's you, You're the reason I didn't want to leave." Stan felt one of Kyle's hands take one of his own and move it gently away from his face.

"What?" exclaimed Stan. He stood up, clenching his fists at his sides. "You- Kyle! You've always been the rational one, the calm one. And you've been avoiding me because you don't want to leave me?" He spoke louder than he had initially intended, and found he didn't much care.

"Yes," said Kyle simply.

"Dude your logic would make Freud's head explode."

Kyle grinned, standing up himself. "Yeah, I guess it was stupid of me. But the thought of leaving you... I freaked out. I didn't know where to turn, since... well, you're the one I'd normally go to when I had something on my mind. And this time... well, it was _you _on my mind. That complicates things."

"It doesn't have to," Stan said softly. He wasn't sure what made him open his mouth again. 'Your smile... it's..." _cute _didn't seem like the right word at all. He needed something with more of a... _Kyle_ sound to it. His lips searched for the right adjective. Instead, they found Kyle's mouth.

The entire moment was completely surreal. Kyle kissed him back as though it wasn't at all awkward or unexpected, as though he'd been waiting for this actually. Stan ignored his surprise at his own actions and just gave in to his instincts. Finally they broke away, and Kyle grinned at him again. _Beautiful. _

"I won't let anything seperate us," Stan promised simply.

"I know," replied Kyle.

The two started to walk along the sidewalk, heading in no specific direction but enjoying each other's company. Stan meant what he said; if Kyle was shipped off to a yeshiva, Stan would find a way to follow him there. He'd go to another nearby school or something. But for now they were together, and for now that was all that mattered to either of them.


End file.
